Technique could lead to new drug delivery systems, biological warfare sensors
Using a lab technique called domain insertion, Johns Hopkins researchers have joined two proteins in a way that creates a molecular “switch.” The result, the researchers say, is a microscopic protein partnership in which one member controls the activity of the other. Similarly coupled proteins may someday be used to produce specialized molecules that deliver lethal drugs only to cancerous cells. They also m
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have discovered how to transfer the optical properties of silicon crystal sensors to plastic, an achievement that could lead to the development of flexible, implantable devices capable of monitoring the delivery of drugs within the body, the strains on a weak joint or even the healing of a suture.
The discovery is detailed in the March 28 issue of Science by a UCSD team that pioneered the development of a number of novel optical sensor
How nature tries to compensate for the vulnerability of male babies
New research from Italy reveals that mother nature tries very hard to compensate for the fact that male foetuses and newborns are more fragile than females by allowing significantly more boys to be conceived at a time of year when conditions for pregnancy and birth are optimal.
Evidence that males are more fragile than females and that fewer males are conceived in sub-optimal conditions is not new. What is new in
Scientists from the John Innes Centre (JIC), Norwich (1) have today reported that highly toxic compounds, called free radicals, are essential to plant growth. The researchers had found that the controlled production of free radicals is an essential first step in switching on the expansion of cells that underlies the growth of plant shoots, roots, leaves and buds. A phenomenon that is especially evident in the spring. The research is reported in the international scientific journal Nature.
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Finding how E1 enzyme juggles three jobs should lead to critical insights into the control of cellular functions at the heart of health and disease
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered how a single enzyme called E1 performs a rapid-fire, three-part chemical makeover of a protein that helps control some of the most fundamental biochemical processes of the human cell. The enzyme uses two different parts of its own structure to juggle four different mo
Determining details of attraction in mechanically-linked molecules allows chemists to fine-tune shapes, capabilities of supramolecules for improved and new polymers
Virginia Tech chemistry professor H.W. Gibson and his students have been able to take advantage of self assembly to create new chemical structures from mechanically-linked molecules. Gibson will give an invited talk in the Division of Polymer Chemistry at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society March 2
A bacterium’s ability to change its hairstyle may help in the effort to clean contaminated groundwater for drinking, according to Penn State researchers.
People are continually moving into places that are hot, sunny and arid where drinking water is in short supply, says R. Kramer Campen, Penn State graduate student in geosciences. “The imperative to find ways to clean groundwater is paramount,” he told attendees today (March 25) at the 225th American Chemical Society national meeting i
Researchers have discovered a gene that appears to be critical for maintaining a healthy sense of balance in mice. The study, led by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears in the April 1 issue of the journal Human Molecular Genetics and online March 24.
“Loss of balance is a significant problem in the elderly because it can lead to dangerous falls and injuries,” says one of the study’s principal investigators, David M. Ornitz, M.D., Ph.D., professor of
One of the most powerful tools in today’s biological and medical science is the ability to artificially remove and add bits of DNA to an organism’s genome. This has helped scientists to understand problems caused by defective genes, for example, which have now been linked to thousands of human diseases. So far the technology has been limited to small segments of DNA. But four years ago, Francis Stewart and his colleagues at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg) developed a new techn
Researchers hope to someday develop an enzyme to repair UV-damaged DNA in humans
Plants, pond scum, and even organisms that live where the sun doesn’t shine have something that humans do not — an enzyme that repairs DNA damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light.
Cabell Jonas of Richmond, Va., an undergraduate honors student in biology at Virginia Tech, will report on the molecular details of the DNA-repair enzyme at the 225th national meeting of the American Chemical Society March
Finding an economical way to make a polyester commonly found in many types of bacteria into a plastic with uses ranging from packaging to biomedical devices is a long-held scientific goal. Such a polymer would be a “green” plastic, in that it would be biodegradable.
Geoffrey Coates, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., has partially achieved this goal by discovering a highly efficient chemical route for the synthesis of the polymer, known as po
A team of investigators at Carnegie Mellon University has formed the first hybrid quadruplex of peptide nucleic acids, or PNAs, with DNA, the genetic code. This result opens new opportunities to study the activity of genetic regions occupied by recently described quadruplex DNA structures, as well as providing a new compound that could be used as a biosensor or to block gene activity associated with diseases such as cancer. The research results, published online, will appear in a forthcoming issue o
Could yield biosensors with greater sensitivity, specificity
Scientists at Hebrew University, Israel, in collaboration with researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, have devised a way to use gold nanoparticles as tiny electrical wires to plug enzymes into electrodes. The gold “nanoplugs” help align the molecules for optimal binding and provide a conductive pathway for the flow of electrons. The research, described in the March 21, 2003, issue of
Dutch phytopathologists have shown that ethylene is vital for the protection of plants against bacteria and fungi. This is another function for the plant hormone already known to play a role in plant aging and fruit ripening.
Bart Geraats from Utrecht University demonstrated that plants which are insensitive for the hormone ethylene are hypersensitive to various microorganisms. The research implies that farmers and horticulturalists must be careful with substances that inhibit the effect of
Dutch chemists have visualised how the porous structure of a zeolite catalyst depends on the production method. Zeolite made with carbon fibres as a template, has particles with straight canals that act as highways for the oil components which must be converted into benzene components.
Zeolite is normally given a steam treatment to improve its catalytic properties. As a result of this the mineral acquires a more sponge-like structure. The canals formed ensure that the zeolite crystal become
In the developing brain, nerve cells make connections with one another by extending processes, often over long distances.
The growing tips of these nerve cell processes are guided to their ultimate connection sites by molecular cues in the environment.
A Salk Institute research team has discovered a receptor-protein interaction that guides nerve cells along specific pathways.
John Thomas, professor of molecular neurobiology, working on the fruit fly Drosophila, found tha
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